(4) How long do hip replacements last?

The lifetime of a hip replacements, or more accurately the procedure in which a replacement is implanted, are usually measured in terms of a survival curve or life-table. For contemporary total hip replacements the 10 years survivorship can be as good as 95 % to 98 %. However, whilst this appears relatively good, the sheer volume of hip replacements (50,000 per annum in the UK) means that the number of revision operations is large and, hence, affects a significant number of people. In the USA, Kurtz et al (2009) has predicted that the number of revision procedures could rise to 100,000 per annum which places significant demands on the healthcare system.